Improvement in machines for stacking hay



' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM M. MASON, OF POLO, ILLINOIS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,513, dated February25, 1862.

.T0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. MAsoN, of Polo, in the county of Ogle andState of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Device yforStackingGrain, I-Iay, Stalks, &;c.; and I do hereby declare that the followingisafull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being hadto the annexed drawings, makinga part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 is an elevation of my invention adjusted in proper workingorder; and Fig. 2, a horizontal section of the same, taken in the linea:x of Fig. 1.

' Similar letters ot reference indicate corresponding parts in the twoligures.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinvention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents a vertical pole, which may be of any suitable height orlength. The lower end of the pole A is secured in a cross-piece B andbraced by oblique rods a a. The crosspiece B is secured to the ground bystakes C O, which are driven through eyes b b at the ends of thecross-piece, and .the pole is reltained in a proper vertical position bymeans of guy-ropes D, the upper ends of which are attached to the endsof a cross-bar E at the top of the pole and the lower ends attached tothe ground by means of pins or stakes c.

To the upper part of the pole A there is secured a crane F, which may beconstructed in the usual way and arranged to swing on the pole inconsequence of being fitted to the same by means of eyes or straps d d.In the horizontal arm e of the crane there are placed two pulleys f f,one at the back and the other at the' front end of the arm, as shownclearly in Fig. 1, and to the lower end of the pole A there is attacheda pulley g.

G is a rope which passes underneath thc pulley g and over the pulleys ffin the arm e of the crane. The upper end of the rope has agrappling-fork H connected to it and the draft-animal is attached to thelower end.

The fork H is formed of two cross-bars h h', connected by a pivot orfulerum t. The lower ends of the bars h h have heads or cross-bars Iattached at right angles, and to these heads or cross-bars teeth k areattached, the teeth of one head fitting between those of the other whenthe device is closed. (See Fig. 2.) The upper parts of the bars h habove the fulcrum t' are connected by a toggle I, and to this toggle theupper end of the rope Gis secured.

To the bar h of the fork H the end of a rope J is attached. This ropepasses downward and around a pulleyZ on the lower part of the bar h',and thence upward over apulleym on the upper part of the bar h, and thenextending downward within reach of the operator.

The operation of the device is as follows: The pole A is secured in avertical position at the spot where the stack is to be made and thedraft-animal attached to the lower end of the rope G. The operatoradjusts the grappling-fork H in the grain, hay, orother substance to bestacked and the draft-animal is started', the fork H andI its load beingelevated thereby. When the fork is overthe direct spot, the animal isstopped and the load discharged from the fork by pulling the rope J,which causes the bars h h tobe distended and the forks to separate. Asthe fork is elevated, the toggle I, to which the rope G is attached, hasa tendency to keepY the teeth k of the two heads j closed, as shown inFig. l. The pole A may be moved along from time to time, so that a longrick may be formed when desired.

The device as a whole isv extremely simple and efficient, may be readilytransported from place to place, and constructed at a reasonable cost.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of the toggles I, pulleys Z m, and 4rope J with the forkH, constructed as described, in the manner and for the purpose hereinshown and set forth.

WILLIAM M. MASON. Witnesses:

JAMEs MosHER, LC. SALZMAN.

